This Week in History: 10-16 December

10 December 1924: Hazrat Syeda Amatul Hayy Begum^ra, daughter of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I^ra and wife of Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra, passed away. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, p. 489)

10 December 1953: Hazrat Hakim Muhammad Abdul Samad^ra of Delhi passed away. He was born in 1879 in the house of Hakim Muhammad Abdul Ghani Sahib. Hazrat Hakim Muhammad Abdul Samad^ra joined Islam Ahmadiyyat in 1905. When the Promised Messiah^as visited Delhi in 1905, upon seeing the Promised Messiah’s^as blessed countenance, he said that his was the face of a truthful person and did bai‘at shortly after. After performing bai‘at, a storm of opposition arose. His parents stopped talking to him. If food was available, he would eat it, otherwise he would fast.

Hazrat Hakim Muhammad Abdul Samad^ra was a very experienced doctor. He used to advise young people in particular that without good morals, one could not experience good health.

In 1911, he moved from Delhi to Meerut where he opened a clinic. He then relocated his family to Qadian and then migrated to Qadian in 1934. After the partition of the country in 1947, he started living in Karachi. He was a musi and was buried in Bahishti Maqbarah, Rabwah. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 16, p. 184)

10 December 1965: Hazrat Munshi Ahmad Ali^ra, a companion of the Promised Messiah^as, passed away. He was born in 1860. He would say that in 1902, when he was employed at a particular place, the supervising officer of his department who came for inspection was Hazrat Babu Ata Muhammad^ra of Jhelum. In his pocket was the Al Hakam newspaper. The paper contained the commentary of the Promised Messiah^as of Surah al-Fatihah. After reading it, Hazrat Munshi Ahmad Ali^ra was very much impressed. Later, he studied other books of the Promised Messiah^as. When he was convinced that the Promised Messiah^as was true in his claim, he made his way to Qadian and did bai‘at.

Hazrat Munshi Ahmad Ali^ra passed away on 10 December 1965 and was buried in Bahishti Maqbarah, Rabwah.

11 December 1936: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra always urged the Jamaat to pray. On this day, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra instructed members of the Jamaat to engage in fervent prayers and seek forgiveness from God Almighty. Whilst giving advice regarding prayer and repentance, Huzoor^ra said:

“At least one day in a year, you [members of the Jamaat] should [seek forgiveness and] shed tears before God Almighty for your sins as opposed to merely asking Him for the fulfilment of your desires.” (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 7, p. 324) 

11 December 1936: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra invited Maulvi Muhammad Ali Sahib of the Paighamis for a debate on the prophethood of the Promised Messiah^as. Maulvi Sahib avoided the chance to settle this dispute.

The details of this incident can be found in Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 7, pp. 329-331.

12 December 1948: Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra delivered a lecture about the status of Islam in the contemporary world and its future. This event was arranged in Maynard Hall, Law College, Lahore by the Ahmadiyya Intercollegiate Association. The session was presided by Justice Sheikh Abdur Rahman, who would go on to become the chief justice of Pakistan.

Commenting on the future of the Islamic world, Huzoor^ra said:

“In my view, the future of the Islamic world is secure, provided we [Muslims] act upon the methods prescribed by the Holy Quran for attaining success.” 

At the end of the lecture, the president thanked Huzoor^ra and said that all the suggestions Huzoor^ra gave were constructive and added that they were very valuable and must be taken seriously. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 11, p. 408)

13 December 1935: Hazrat Sheikh Abdur Rahman^ra, a companion of the Promised Messiah, peace be upon him, passed away in Delhi at the age of 65. His body was brought to Qadian on 15 December. Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra led his funeral prayer and he was buried in Bahishti Maqbarah. (Al Fazl, 17 December 1935, p. 1)

13 December 1952: A delegation representing the Jamaat called on the chief secretary and home secretary of Punjab to stop spreading false conspiracies about the Jamaat in front of the highest civil authorities of the province.

In those days, all the opponents of Ahmadiyyat were carrying out conspiracies, lies and spreading hatred, which eventually led to the infamous and notorious anti-Ahmadiyya riots of 1953 in which the lives of Ahmadis were taken and their properties destroyed. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 14, p. 448)

14 December 1912: Hazrat Khalifatul Masih I, may Allah be pleased with him, drew the attention of Ahmadi scholars to prepare a new book for the interpretation of dreams in light of new topics that emerged as a result of technological advancements. (Al Hakam, 14 December 1912, p. 6)

14 December 1936: In order to connect Qadian with other large cities, telephone lines were set up. On this date, the installation work was completed.

At the request of the Government of India, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra inaugurated the installation through making the first call to Hazrat Chaudhry Sir Zafrulla Khan^ra. Mr Kapoor, Subdivisional Officer of Telegraphs, and Mr Radol, a telephone engineer, worked hard and diligently to get this phone line up and running as soon as possible. (Al Fazl, 16 December 1936)

15 December 1926: Lajna Imaillah started publishing their magazine, Misbah. Its first editor was Qazi Zuhuruddin Akmal Sahib. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 4, p. 566)

15 December 1952: Hazrat Munshi Karam Din^ra, a companion of the Promised Messiah^as who entered the Jamaat in 1897 and had the honour of writing copies of the books of Hazrat Ahmad^as, passed away. 

He was very fond of serving the Jamaat. When he reached old age and poor health, and when the administration started looking for a new worker, he humbly requested that he may continue to serve the Jamaat till his last breath. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 14, p. 401)

15 December 1981: Renowned educationist, Qazi Muhammad Aslam Sahib passed away. His father, Hazrat Qazi Dr Karam Ilahi^ra, accepted the Promised Messiah^as in 1898. Qazi Muhammad Aslam Sahib was born on 2 February 1900. He did an MA in philosophy from Government College Lahore in 1921 and came first and was awarded the Nanak Bakshi Medal. He also studied at Cambridge University.

Qazi Muhammad Aslam Sahib not only wrote many articles, but translated many books of the Promised Messiah^as and Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra into English. For almost 40 years, he used to deliver regular speeches in the annual jalsas of Qadian and Rabwah on the subject of the Supreme Being of God. For some time, he also served as amir Jamaat Lahore.

He gave more than 100 lectures on All India Radio and Radio Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. 

16 December 1916: English orientalist, David Samuel Margoliouth travelled from England and visited Qadian. He had the opportunity of meeting Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud^ra. The meeting with Huzoor^ra left a strong and lasting impression on him.

(For more details, see Al Hakam, 2 April 2021, issue no. 159; www.alhakam.org/coming-from-every-distant-track-david-samuel-margoliouth-english-orientalist-visits-qadian)

16 December 1952: Hazrat Syed Mahmudullah Shah^ra, a companion of the Promised Messiah^as, passed away. He was born in December 1900 in the house of Hazrat Syed Abdus Sattar Shah^ra. He had memorised the Holy Quran at the age of eight. He served the Jamaat for a long time as the headmaster of Talim-ul-Islam High School. He strived very hard to grow and maintain high standards of education at the school.

He was the uncle of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih IV^rh and the grandfather of Hazrat Amatul Sabooh Begum Sahiba, wife of Hazrat Khalifatul Masih V^aa. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 14, p. 402)

16 December 1961: Proceedings of the three-day Jalsa Salana in Qadian commenced with an attendance of 1,700. It is reported that Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Tahir Ahmad^rh was also present at this Jalsa.

This jalsa was held on 16, 17, and 18 December. Apart from prominent Ahmadi scholars of India, the following speakers from Pakistan addressed the Jalsa, Khalid-e-Ahmadiyyat Hazrat Maulana Abul Ata Sahib, Prof Maulvi Ghulam Bari Saif Sahib, Giani Wahid Hussain Sahib, Sahibzada Mirza Tahir Ahmad^rh, Mahasha Muhammad Umar Sahib, Sheikh Noor Ahmad Sahib, Maulvi Fazl Ilahi Sahib, and more scholars of the Jamaat. (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 21, p. 234)